A million miles for US hydrogen cars

A hydrogen car charging company has powered more than one million emission-free miles in California.

True Zero, which operates the world’s largest network of retail hydrogen-charging stations, reached the major milestone last week after opening its first charging station nine months ago.

Use of the refueling stations has ramped up since then, with automobile manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz also expanding their fuel-cell-vehicle programs.

Joel Ewanick, founder and CEO of First Element Fuel, True Zero’s parent company, said: “We’re starting to see the real impact of what we set out to do two years ago, to help get more electric cars on the road by making retail hydrogen readily available in California.

“We set out to show that a hydrogen-electric vehicle can be a true replacement for a gasoline engine, to be seamlessly driven throughout California with just four-minute stops to charge along the way.”

Between November 2015 and May 2016, True Zero completed building 15 hydrogen stations throughout California to link major cities and enable hydrogen travel throughout the state.

The True Zero Network has performed more than 6,300 vehicle fills for retail customers, supplying more than 15,900 kilos of hydrogen.